Antibody Optimization and Engineering Service
Antibody-based proteins have emerged as an important class of biological therapies for cancer, thanks in large part to the stability, specificity, and adaptability of antibody frameworks. Alfa Cytology provides multifactorial antibody engineering and optimization of antibody candidates identified in R&D, with the aim of improving the therapeutic or diagnostic performance of any antibody candidate.
Introduction to Antibody Optimization and Engineering
Antibody therapeutics are the fastest-growing class of drugs on the market, thanks in large part to their naturally favorable properties. There are currently 76 antibody-based therapeutics in clinical use, with the most productive applications being in oncology and immunology. When designing antibody-based therapeutics, a multitude of factors must be considered, each of which has a direct impact on the protein structure, and consequently on the biological and therapeutic function.
Effect of Targeted Antigens on Therapeutic Antibodies
The choice of targeting antigen affects the primary and tertiary structure of the variable region of the antibody, which may affect the nature of the antibody-antigen interaction, potency, and therapeutic index.
Effect of Antibody Types on Therapeutic Antibodies
Similarly, factors such as antibody subclass and isotype affect the structure of the constant region, which in turn affects binding to the Fc receptor, which is critical for effector function and serum half-life.
Fig.1 Structural considerations for the IgG-based therapeutics. (Goulet, D. R., & Atkins, W. M., 2020)
Our Services
Over time, an increasing number of innovative antibody derivatives are replacing standard monoclonal antibodies to address the complex pathobiology of diseases and improve existing therapies. Alfa Cytology provides antibody engineering and optimization to help customers improve their antibodies in terms of affinity, potency, cross-reactivity, specificity, and biophysical properties.
One-step Antibody Development
Alfa Cytology creates a unique end-to-end antibody discovery and development platform for your therapeutic antibody program. After antibody optimization and engineering, we also provide a series of preclinical research services. Our services cover a wide range of antibody types.
Antibody Humanization
Non-human antibodies have been shown to induce an immune response in humans, leading to neutralization of the administered antibody and limiting the use of such antibodies in the treatment of human diseases. Humanization of antibodies is an effective way to eliminate or reduce the immunogenicity of such antibodies. Alfa Cytology offers human/mouse chimeric antibodies, fully human antibodies, and human antibody recombination to enhance the safety and efficacy of antibodies in therapeutic applications.
Affinity Maturation
Affinity maturation is the process by which antibody affinity, potency, and anti-pathogen activity are enhanced as a result of somatic hypermutation (SHM) of immunoglobulin genes in B cells, as well as antigen-binding selection. Alfa Cytology improves and enhances the affinity of an antibody to bind to its target antigens, through homology library screening, DNA recombination, or point mutation techniques.
Antibody Liability Removal
Reducing the risk of precursors upfront improves developability and minimizes the chances of clinical failure due to poor molecular characterization. Alfa Cytology modulates the motifs present in the final antibody by using a defined collection of natural complementary-determining region (CDR) sequences that lack sequence defects.
The humoral immune response produces an astoundingly complex array of antibody molecules that bind both antigens and elements of the adaptive immune system. Alfa Cytology provides antibody optimization and engineering services to fine-tune the pharmacokinetics and effector functions of different antibody subclasses for your special project. Please contact us for more information.
Reference
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Goulet, D. R., & Atkins, W. M. (2020). Considerations for the Design of Antibody-Based Therapeutics. Journal of pharmaceutical sciences, 109(1), 74–103.
! For research use only.
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